Hello all,
I have the car thats in my sig (Camaro, not the Olds), and I am wondering if now is a good time to do a trans flush for routine maintenance. It is just about to turn 79,000 miles. I have some extra money set aside to give my transmission some preventative maintenance, so what should I do? The previous owner said he had the transmission flushed at 50k, but I don't know if I believed him or not because it seemed like he made up a number. So will it cause more damage to get my transmission flushed now to prolong its life, or will it just hurt it? The car sees all street duty and has never been to the track. I asked my uncle about having a transmission flushed and he said it would cause more damage than good. I run the car hard every once in a while, and will probably run a transmission cooler whether or not you advise me to have this flushed. Please advise.

 

If it has been well maintained and is not symptomatic I would recommend a fluid and filter change, not necessarily a flush.

The reason is by flushing the unit you will remove all of the particulates that are circulating in the fluid. That is what your uncle is concerned about. A traditional service will not replace all of the fluid and should not cause any problems whatsoever if it has been properly maintained and is not symptomatic..

g

 

Thanks ratchhead. The car has no symptoms of a failing trans, this is just preventative maintenance. It is my understanding that the flush will cause these particles to circulate throughout the trans during a flush, thus causing more problems when they move from the place they have been for years (which is probably helping my transmission function normally, right?). I have dropped the pan on a trans before (my old 1988 pontiac 6000) and replaced all the fluid that came out from doing that along with the filter. Is this what I should do with my Camaro? Would you recommend doing it myself, and also opening the converter access hole to drain that too since I can being that this car is RWD? I want to make this transmission live longer with fresh fluid and being able to run cooler with a B&M trans cooler unit sometime in the near future. Thanks.

 

I think that if you are capable of doing the service you should! It is not a tough job and can be a good learning experience. Yes, flushing a unit can cause "clutch mud" to break loose. But that is not too big of a concern here if it has been well maintained.

Get the correct filter, a new pan gasket 5-6 Quarts of Dexron III and go for it! There is not converter drain plug so it is not useful to remove the inspection plates.

I would think that a good old fashioned service and an auxillary cooler would help your unit live just fine and dandy for some time to come.

g

 

Thanks. I know its not hard at all. The problem I had when doing it before was that I had a real PITA trying to get the correct amount of transmission fluid in there. I couldn't tell if it was too full or too empty because the trans fluid was stuck in the dipstick hole, and then I put too much in and had to open one of the cooler lines for about 10 seconds to get it to flow out. That was the ghetto way of doing it in a $500 car, but the Camaro will be well researched because it is in excellent condition.

 

I get mine flushed every year!

 

hmm, see thats where it gets me thinking. I just dont want to hurt the car by listening to the people who say "if you crack it open you'll end up causing more damage than good."

 

Just do a simple filter change. Be sure to get a quality filter and gasket, or it will leak!

 

Yeah a filter and fluid is a good way to go and cheaper than a machine flush.

Contact one of the sponsors and get a FarPack or Accopack gasket, it is fiber and works well. They can hook you up with a filter too.

 

I keep plenty of them in stock. The only one I will use.

 

would a GM filter/gasket work fine?

 

Yes a GM filter is fine